Pleasant Grove Independent School District's Board of Trustees appointed Roger Hailey as interim superintendent during a special meeting Friday. He will begin the week of Dec. 17 and continue full time in January.
PG Superintendent Dr. Jason Smith was recently named lone finalist for the president's position at Texarkana College and will begin there Jan. 1. He has been with the district for three years and will replace TC President James Henry Russell, who announced his resignation in September to serve as executive vice president and chief financial officer for BWI. Russell's last day at the college will be Dec. 31.
Hailey served as principal of Pleasant Grove High School from July 1985 to July 1989. He has 19 years of superintendent experience and served seven years at Atlanta ISD, eight years at Crane ISD and four years in the Henderson, Texas, school district. Following his retirement in 2014, he served as interim superintendent for Liberty-Eylau ISD, Linden-Kildare CISD and New Boston ISD.
He said he is looking forward to serving as PG's interim superintendent.
"I am thankful for the opportunity to work with PGISD," Hailey said. "They've got a standard of excellence that's been established and maintained for years. I'm thankful I can be part of it for a little while."
He also has two grandchildren who are juniors at PGHS.
Smith said he is confident in Hailey's leadership and experience and that he will successfully lead the district until his replacement is found.
"Mr. Hailey has a wealth of knowledge and experience to contribute as interim superintendent," Smith said. "I know Pleasant Grove will continue to thrive under his leadership."
The Board of Trustees has hired Arrow Educational Services Inc., a Texas-based superintendent search firm, to provide candidates for Smith's replacement. The board also used this firm to find Smith three years ago.
The next regular board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at Central Services, 8500 N. Kings Highway, Texarkana, Texas.